Dark Pathes Not Trodden
by Darksoul2Firestar'sKiller
Summary: In the tranquil of the night, something is lurking. When you think your alone, they're in the darkness. These are the cats you must avoid. They are not your friends.
1. Chapter 1

_In the tranquil of the night, something is lurking. In the darkness, you are never alone. These are the cats you should be wary of. They are not your friends._

It was a warm summer evening. A warm greenleaf night. It was just dark, not black dark of nighttime, but the cool darkness of late. There were fireflies out, and the grass was cool underpaw. But wasn't it always like this? She couldn't remember. She just knew one thing; she didn't belong here. This was the forest of loneliness, but she never felt lonely anymore. There was nowhere out. You sometimes scented prey, scented other animals. But you never saw them. You never saw anything except for the fireflies. It was always night. But it was not bad here. Not too bad at all. Yet she felt she was missing something. Her heart and head felt empty. She knew nothing of this forest, yet she knew she once did.

Time didn't seem to move here, nothing changed. But did it really happen in life before? All she knew was this dark forest. You never got tired here. She rarely stopped walking. So she spent her nights roaming. Was she once tired? Perhaps. But now life was nothing but silent trekking through the shadowy forest.

The night where everything changed was different from all the rest of the nights. But all the nights seemed to run together, and sometimes she felt as though it was one continuous night, and although she moved, everything else was still. For she stopped her roaming and sat down. Just sat down in front of a very wide tree. But weren't all trees wide? In this forest. This forest.

"Ahh, you came!" She jumped what was that? It was familiar and strange all at once. Then her memory came back. A voice. She searched her mind for anything else, but found nothing but a voice. _You came. You came._ Did she still know how to talk? She didn't remember. She turned around and saw a large black cat- yes, black! The color of her own pelt- standing behind her, his green eyes glittering in the sickly moonlight.

"Came?" Yes, her voice still worked. "I just sat down. I didn't go anywhere." Words were now familiar too. But still, her heart was empty.

The black cat sat down and curled his tail around his paws. There was something sinister about this cat, although he just stared at her with his green eyes. Unblinking, green eyes.... "Why would you do that? You have no desire to stop walking. And you are always somewhere." Simple, yet powerful words. She didn't trust him, though what not to trust? After all, there was nothing gained nor lost here.

She shrugged, not taking her eyes off of him. "Well then, what do you want?" he was making her nervous- yes, that was what she had felt in her old life. Nervous...about what? Still, her heart was very empty. She longed for something to fill it.

"Do you feel the void in your heart?" he asked. "Do you long for something when you have nothing nor want anything?" He was still just sitting there, his green eyes on her. How did he know?

She nodded, shocked that she had admitted that; then again, though he made her nervous she realized that she couldn't help but trust him. Yet she didn't trust him completely. No. Trust. Wasn't that something she didn't have much of in her own life? And he was still watching her. "Would you like it to fill up? Full as it once was, with new memories- memories of this forest?"

"Yes. Yes I would." She nodded again, flexing her claws into the soft grass. It was knee-high, and was always so lush and cool. "But how can you do anything. What about you? Are there others?"

"Others? Yes, I suppose you could say that. Follow me" he rose to his paws, his long limbs rippling with muscles. With one last glance at her, he padded off in the direction he came. She got up and followed him. It was weird to be with another cat again. Again- yes. She used to be with others all day. Did she enjoy it? She couldn't say.

Just like before, just trekking through the forest, although this time she wasn't alone. It seemed like forever or a heartbeat and they were there. It looked different from the rest of the forest. She couldn't remember was it was called, but there were no trees growing around it. In the center there was a rock, rounded to the ground.

"Welcome to Rockwhisper Hollow!" the tom raised his chin, turning back around to her. "If you wish to fill your mind-"

"Soulshredder!" A a bright ginger she-cat leaped into the clearing. A clearing! Yes, that was what it was. "What are you doing? You know that we shouldn't use this hollow for anything less than sacred!" How was there other cats here? She had never scented them before, but then this forest was very strange.

"Rainbowpelt, you can stop now." Names. That was how cats identified themselves in her old life. "I know. But don't you think that its time to have another? Mysticleaf agreed with me." Soulshredder replied calmly.

"The MistiCat has been gone for a long time." Rainbowpelt observed quietly. She had no idea what they were talking about, but Soulshredder turned to her.

"Look in the puddle at your paws." As she looked down, my fur tingled because as he spoke a puddle appeared. Her reflection gleamed back at her. Her narrow head and tall ears... and red eyes. It was always that way, she thought. "Red eyes." Soulshredder meowed. "We've been waiting a long time for you."

"Than why did I walk in that forest forever?" She asked challengingly.

Soulshredder dipped his head. "It was not forever. I came as soon as you arrived. But time doesn't exist here, so it doesn't matter. Come," he waved his tail. "Place your paws on this rock."

"Soulshredder!" Rainbowpelt lifted her tail angrily, but Soulshredder ignored her as she padded up and placed her two dark paws on the rock. Rainbowpelt sat down and watched, anguish in her eyes.

"I will fill the dark in your heart. Do you remember? Remember the cats? Remember the times? Do you remember, Darksoul?" As he said he name, everything came back. _Darksoul. Darksoul. _


	2. Chapter 2

_When all is lost there's a place to be found. It's inside your heart, where you retreat. Remember, you can hide in darkness or the light. _

Darksoul was transported back. Back to where everything happened. Where cats lived. Where _she_ lived. Breathed, moved, ran. Earth. As Soulshredder uttered that one word, everything came back to her, flashed before her eyes.

_"What's wrong with her?" In this world of scent and sound, became added with it was sight. The young black kit opened her eyes for the first time, blinking and taking in all of the world. She saw her family, her mother and father and brother and sister, which she had only known before that by scent. "H-her eyes!" it was her father's voice, coming from that huge cat standing before her. She was in the nursery, but she never could have imagined it was this big, nor her mother and father._

_"Fetch the medicine cat!" her mother gasped. "There's something not right here!" her father got to his paws and sprinted off, his tabby pelt rippling. The kit inspected her own pelt. It was black, black like her mother's. Her brother's pelt was bright ginger, and her sister's dark gray. Content to sit and look at the world for a while, she stared at everything she could, fastinated by the way everything moved. _

_Suddenly her father was back, followed by a ginger tabby she-cat not unlike himself. "Her eyes," he panted. "They're red! And they should have been opened long ago! The others have been seeing for nearly half a moon!" _

_The she-cat leaned forward. "She certainly can see just fine. And they're not bloodshot. They're red, just like yours and mine are blue. It's queer, but there's nothing wrong here." The kit purred and batted at the medicine cat._

_"Still," sniffed her father. "She's very strange. Very strange indeed." _

_-- _

_The small black she-cat was crouched between the medicine cat's paws next to her brother, Lightningkit. The leader of ShadowClan, Icestar, stood before them, his white head bowed. "Are they the last ones, Sunsetfur?" his voice was low, and his face was shadowed with grief. The black kit stared at him with wide, red eyes._

_"Yes." Sunsetfur too, seemed wracked with sadness. "Everyone else-that lived of course- is free of this terrible sickness. But now these two kits are without parents." Her tail wrapped tighter around them, and she looked up at the older cat, her blue eyes searching his face. The little she-cat let out a whimper. The last days had passed in a haze of sickness, but she had finally recovered, if not a little bit weak yet. "And this one," she swept her tail to the she-cat. "Is without a name."_

_Icestar glanced down at the young she-cat, his eyes burning. "I will name her Dark-kit, for the dark time that StarClan has forced upon us. For the darkness this Clan lives in." he swept away, leaving the medicine staring after him._

_--_

_"Ha-ha, Dark-kit, I'm an apprentice and your just a puny little kit!" Swiftpaw stuck his tongue out at Dark-kit, watching him with her bright red eyed. "I'm so much better than you!" His amber eyes gleamed teasingly at her. Dark-kit took a swipe, but missed as Swfitpaw kicked her backward, rolling on the ground. _

_She let out a squeak, looking up at the huge tom. Her foster mother, Leopardfang, let out a hiss. "Get up off the ground, Dark-kit. Stop being a wimp!" _

_Dark-kit backed away to where Leopardfang sat with Lightningkit and her own kits, her gaze never straying from Swiftpaw and his bright yellow, glaring eyes. She didn't know why he didn't like her, but she vowed that she would always hate him. _

_--_

_"Darkpaw, what in StarClan's name are you doing?" Grasspelt snarled at his apprentice. Darkpaw leaped out from the dust, her ear bleeding. "You let Swiftpaw throw you off balance. You should be more careful, like Lightningpaw." Darkpaw glanced at her brother, who rolled away from the ginger apprentice's claws, landing neatly on his paws. _

_Darkpaw ducked her head. "I-I'm really sorry." she muttered. Her ear stung, and her tail was bleeding like crazy, but no one seemed to have any sympathy for the stupid little black cat with red eyes. _

_With a roar, she leaped at Swiftpaw, catching him off guard. He rolled, then leaped up and slashed at Darkpaw with unsheathed claws. Darkpaw let out a cry of pain as she was sent down on a patch of thorns. They tangled in her usually sleek fur and cut her up. _

_Her nose was bleeding now too, from Swiftpaw's claws. Lightningpaw looked at her with sympathy, but Darkpaw turned away bitterly._

_-- _

_"Mouseheart, Lashface, and...Yarrowtail. You go on the border patrol." ShadowClan deputy Gravelpelt growled. The warriors nodded and headed for the entrance. "Swiftwind, you can go hunting with... Darkpaw, since Grasspelt is in the nursery with Fleetfur. Her kits are coming." He was sitting by the fresh-kill pile barking orders. _

_Swiftwind heaved himself to his paws. As the newest warrior, he had an air of pride about him that Darkpaw couldn't stand. He was so annoying. "Let's go, Darkpaw." Unwillingly, she followed him down the tunnel and through their territory. He spotted a toad and began to stalk it. _

_Just as he was about to pouce, it hopped away, disappearing behind a rock. Swiftwind let out a roar of fury. "Darkpaw, this is your fault!" She shrank away from his anger, but he raised a paw and slashed across her face. He picked her up by the scruff and flung her into a rock. "You idiot!"_

_Darkpaw began crying. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Swiftwind!" she shook with pain, her blood pooling up around her as Swiftwind clawed her belly and bit down on her paw. "I'm sorry!" she screeched. _

_"You will tell no cat of this. You were attacked by a badger." He rubbed her in badger scent marks before stalking off, leaving the poor black she-cat to ly in her own blood. _

_-- _

_"Darkpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lfe?" Icestar asked the young cat. Darkpaw raised her eyes to her leader, the cat who had named her. _

_"I do."_

_"Than by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Darkpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Darksoul. The Clan honors you for your courage and your thoughtfulness, and we welcome you as a new warrior of ShadowClan." _

_Darksoul raised her head as the Clan called her brother's name as well as hers; "Darksoul! Lightningflash! Darksoul! Lightningflash!" Her eyes darkened as she saw Swiftwind curl his lip and pad away. _

_-- _

_"Darksoul... ah?" Flashclaw muttered. Darksoul let out a faint hiss. Flashclaw was a hopeless deputy. She didn't know why Gravelstar had picked him. Icestar had died recently in a battle with WindClan, and now ShadowClan seemed to have no decent leadership."You can hunt with Swiftwind and Lightningflash."_

_"Lightningflash is on border patrol." Darksoul growled. "Who else should go with us?" _I'm not getting stuck with him alone again_, she thought. _

_"Just go with him then." Flashclaw growled. Darksoul grunted and followed Swiftwind. A foreboding spread throughout her. He didn't say anything, and soon they both caught a decent amount of prey. _

_"You didn't catch enough, Dark-kit!" Swiftwind curled his lip at her. "You had better watch it." he aimed a swipe at her, but she caught it between her front paws. _

_Darksoul's red eyes burned like fire. "You had watch it. Now it's your turn to be attacked by the badger. You will tell no cat of it!" she leaped, biting his throat out in one quick motion. He fell at her paws, his blood soaking the ground. "Good. Don't tell anyone." she rolled his pelt in badger markings and padded off, not looking back. _

_-- _

_"Fire! Fire in the camp!" Gravelstar was yowling. He stood, his fur bristling, watching his Clan hurry for the camp entrance. Darksoul looked around for Lightningflash, and saw he was helping his mate run for the entrance, carrying his daughter. __The cats streamed past. Darksoul hurried with them, glancing back at Gravelstar, who was urging his clanmates on. The smoke was filling the camp, and they ran dangerously close to the flames as it began to consume the camp, starting with the dens. _

_Gravelstar came out last, panting. Suddenly a screech sounded. "Where's my other kit?!" It was Thornheart. She looked around, but her other kit was nowhere to be seen. _

_"It must be in the camp. Darksoul, will you fetch it?" Gravelstar asked, turning to the nearest cat. Darksoul dipped her head._

_"Wait! I'm coming too!" Lightningflash pushed through the cats to stand beside his sister. Gravelstar nodded, so the two headed back into the burning camp._ _Darksoul weaved around the burning branches with Lightningflash just behind her. She spotted the gray kit and lunged for it, then handed it to Lightningflash. He nodded and pelted back around the side of the camp, trying to reach the entrance before the flames closed around it. _

_Suddenly she felt something push her shoulder, and she staggered dangerously close to the fire. A familiar scent his her nose: Swiftwind. "_DIE_!" he roared. His spirit slammed into her, and she rolled into the fire. Pain seared her pelt, pain and heat everywhere. The last thing she saw was a brilliant flash of light. _

Darksoul saw it all, and everything was returned to her. And her heart was dark once again.


	3. Chapter 3

_Power is often bestowed upon those who are least expecting it. But when it does, they must be strong. Power and danger are strongly linked._

Darksoul turned to look at Soulshredder. "My life-" her voice broke. Those terrible memories were back. Back to haunt her. Swiftwind's death, her own death. She tried again. "My life, my memories, are back. But why?"

Soulshredder dipped his head again, ignoring Rainbowpelt's snort. The ginger she-cat was padding toward them, her eyes sparkling in annoyance. "You are destined to be the next MistiCat. The Magic One." There was something mysterious about him that made Darksoul very wary. Something in him that Swiftwind had possessed...

"The MistiCat? What is that? And how do I become it? Why me, to begin with?" Questions poured out of her mouth, almost on their own. Darksoul couldn't make sense of any of it, yet these cats seemed to understand everything. But Soulshredder was not talking. The black tom was turned to Rainbowpelt, murmuring something in her ear. Darksoul's eyes narrowed as Rainbowpelt shook her head, then sprinted out of the clearing with a last glare at Soulshredder.

"Answer my questions!" Darksoul growled. The fur was beginning to bristle along her back. "What is the MistiCat?" She took a few paces toward Soulshredder, but for each step she took her took one backwards, keeping the space between them the same.

The dark tom sighed. "All in good time. First we must wait for the arrival of the others. Sit down and relax. he motioned with his tail for her to sit, so she did. Once again, as time seemed to pass in this forest, it was either forever or a heartbeat when five cats strolled into Rockwhisper Hollow with Rainbowpelt behind them. Soulshredder stood up. "Mysticleaf!"

Mysticleaf moved quickly, yet gracefully as he bounded toward Soulshredder, his brown tabby pelt ruffled in the breeze. Darksoul squinted at him in the dark twilight, and she thought she caught a glimpse of a thin band around his neck, but he moved to quickly for her to be sure. "It's time." his voice was high for a tom's, yet strangely fitting for him.

"Sunray and I agree with Rainbowpelt. Why bring a new MistiCat into the world when the former one has been gone for centuries?" A blue-gray tom growled, nodding to the brilliant ginger tabby beside him. But the white she-cat beside him frowned. She padded across the hollow to stand with Soulshredder.

"Exactly. It's been so long..." she meowed. "Too long. We've been waiting a long time for the Magic One."

A new tom spoke, ancient, gristled tabby, making Darksoul jump. "The power is not ours to bestow." he rasped. "But if we can come to an agreement, Nobilitystar will grant us the power."

Soulshredder nodded. Darksoul couldn't follow their conversation, but it seemed to her that they were having an argument that had been going on a long time- over her. "Could some cat please explain to me?" she growled, glaring at Soulshredder.

Soulshredder grunted. "Very well. But if you accept to become the MistiCat, we can only explain after the fact. But I promise you you will not regret your descision if you accept."

"Darksoul, what do you say? Do you accept?" the white she-cat turned to Darksoul now, making her shiver under her gleaming gaze.

Darksoul stared around at each of the cats before turning to the white cat. She took a deep breath. "I accept." Thw she cat padded foward and lay her nose on Darksoul's head. Darksoul shivered as she felt something coarsing through her. Power.

She turned to ask Soulshredder what was happening now, but he appeared to be fading. So did all the others, and then the forest around them. And she was now left in darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

_There are many dangers in the world. But sometimes the most dangerous is ignorance. _

It happened almost at once. One moment the sky was pale, dark gray, and then the sun's bright rays thrust themselves up and the sky was illuminated in a bright pink, the light bouncing off the clouds and creating the sunrise. It warmed the cool earth and green leaves of spring. It touched the dew hanging on the grass and the glimmering spiderwebs. It reached the river, the flowing water and tall reeds. It even reached the dark moor, illuminating the Thunderpath that veered along it. Morning was here.

And creatures were stirring.

Birds lifted their voices as they stretched their wings, butterflies flitted to flowers, and bees in their hives began to buzz. A squirrel paused in a tree, then darted across the Thunderpath. On the moor, a rabbit thumped it leg and tore across the open ground. A sandy fox followed, gaining on it, its eyes gleaming with hunger. And cats were awaking. A brown tabby tom thrust his way through a clump of ferns in the forest, scenting the air.

An eager black and silver tabby with sleek fur followed him, standing at his shoulder. "I can scent a strange cat, Tigerclaw!" he gasped.

His mentor swiveled his head around. "Where, Darkpaw?" He growled. His voice was deep and challenging, his eyes held a dark glint in them.

Darkpaw motioned toward the Thunderpath. "That way!"

--

"Great StarClan, I'm tired," Darksoul raised her head sleepily, feeling sore and cramped. She opened her eyes and jerked awake. This was not her home in ShadowClan. This was not the dark forest she had come from. She leaped to her paws, glaring wildly around. She was in a small clearing in a clump of ferns, the Thunderpath nearby.

In her mind she played through what she remembered last.

Her acceptance to be the MistiCat, the white she-cat who had bestowed her power,Soulshredder's voice, velvety smooth... _Soulshredder!_

"Soulshredder!" she threw back her head and yowled. "Where are you?"

--

A yowl echoed through the forest. Featherwhisker froze. "What was that?" Spottedpaw asked her mentor, dropping the burdock root she held in her mouth.

The old medicine cat frowned. He scented the air, but tasted nothing but the tang of herbs. "I don't know." It sounded again, but this time there were answering snarls. His fur stood on end. "That sounds like Tigerclaw!" Sure enough, that was the young warrior's yowl. Darkpaw's too.

Abandoning their roots, the two cats sped away through the ferns and trees toward the sound.

--

Redtail watched the last patrol head through the gorse tunnel, then turned back and padded into the sunlit clearing. Already the ground was warm beneath his paws. In the clearing, Whitestorm was talking to Bluestar, his white tail twitching. She nodded, and he turned away, dipping his head to the deputy as he passed.

"Ah, Redtail," Bluestar nodded to her deputy. "Did you send out the last patrols?"

The lean tortoiseshell tom dipped his head. "I did. Tigerclaw and Darkpaw went hunting, and Dappletail is leading a patrol to check the RiverClan border. Featherwhisker took Spottedpaw out searching for herbs as well." Bluestar nodded, pleased. The blue-furred she-cat sat down beside him.

Redtail pricked his ears. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Bluestar turned slightly. A yowl sounded, followed by Tigerclaw's snarl. "It's Tigerclaw!" he realized. Suddenly three cats burst through the tunnel. It was Tigerclaw, Darkpaw, and a lean black she-cat. She was spitting furiously, but her eyes showed her terror. Redtail's fur prickled as he saw her bright red eyes. The two medicine cats followed them in, carrying herbs in their jaws.

Bluestar got to her paws and padded over to them. "Tigerclaw," she demanded, "Who is this?"

--

Spitting and snarling, confused and afraid, Darksoul crouched between the two ThunderClan warriors. Well, warrior and apprentice. She gazed up at the blue she-cat. The leader. It was obvious in the way she held herself. Darksoul could always tell, even back when she lived in ShadowClan. But that was so many moons ago. Because everything she saw, remembered, from raids on other Clans' territories, had changed. Time had passed. Lots of time.

Tigerclaw snorted. "I don't know. She was sleeping on our territory, and was yowling something about shredding someone." she glared at him, raising her head arrogantly.

"I was not. I was calling someone." When she glared into his eyes, he shrank back, his expression full of fear. It must be her red eyes, she decided.

The she-cat lashed her tail. "Silence. Please tell us who you are." She motioned to Tigerclaw and the young black cat and they stepped aside. Darksoul shook them away and stood up. She stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the leader.

"And why should I do that?" Confused and muddled as she was, she was not about to give away who she was. If she revealed her name they would know instantly she was a Clan cat. And that wouldn't do._ If only I could fly away.... _


End file.
